Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
116.
Fiestas del Pilar, Zaragoza
October is an important month for Zaragoza, due to the festival of the city's patroness, the
Virgin of the Pillar, whose image is kept at the Basilica of the same name. The celebration is
filled with all kinds of events, including concerts, theater performances, parades, bullfights,
traditional dances, and children's events. Naturally, there are also fireworks, which rise to
the sky before the spectacular backdrop of the basilica. Many of the locals wear traditional
regional attire.
On October 12 - the Fiesta of the Virgin, and also Spain's national day - an enormous floral
offering takes place. The figure of María is taken out of the basilica and put atop a pyram-
idal shrine, which is gradually covered in flowers brought by hundreds of thousands of at-
tendees. That same night, the Glass Rosary procession winds through the streets: a parade
of hundreds of believers carrying lanterns, some of which are very elaborate and must be
carried by several people.
When It's Free
